5 Scary Things To Look Out For On Nutrition Labels

Most nutritionists will say that you should focus on foods that don't even have labels — unpackaged stuff like produce, seafood, and meat — but ain't nobody got time for that all the time. So instead, let's make a collective resolution to actually read nutrition labels. Here are five words to watch out for.

1. BHA

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The three-letter acronym is this preservative's street name (and how it's often listed on nutrition labels), but you might see it written out as butylated hydroxyanisole, too. It's used to keep food from going rancid, and while the Department of Health and Human Services has said it's a carcinogen, the FDA has yet to ban the stuff. The crazy reason why: It's only been proven to cause cancer in animals' forestomachs — an organ humans don't have.

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You'll find it in: breakfast cereal, potato chips, sugar-free gum

2. Partially Hydrogenated Oil

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This is just a fancy name for trans fat, the kind of fat you've always been told to avoid. It's much more difficult for your body to digest and does bad things to your cholesterol — like boost the bad kind and decrease the good. Companies have been given a go-around by the FDA that requires you to read the label even more closely. They're allowed to state the product has zero grams of trans-fat if it has less than half a gram per serving. But newsflash: That partially hydrogenated oil is still hiding in there.

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You'll find it in: margarine, coffee creamer, frozen pizza

3. MSG

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You've probably heard this one closely linked to Chinese food. It's what most people blame for those post-fried rice feelings, like sweating and a rapid heartbeat. MSG might be listed as monosodium glutamate, but glutamates can be found in lots of other ingredients, like yeast extract, soy protein, and citric acid. It's added to America's obesity epidemic and is linked to type 2 diabetes.

You'll find it in: salad dressing, soup, frozen veggie burgers

4. Potassium Bromate

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This additive is most often found in baked goods since it helps dough firm up and rise. It's been shown to cause cancer in animals, but while countless other countries (Brazil, Canada, Peru, and the entire European Union, to name a handful) have banned the ingredient, the U.S. has yet to. Props to California for requiring bakers to add a warning label on products that contain potassium bromate.

You'll find it in: white bread, pizza crust, pastry dough

5. Sodium Nitrate and Sodium Nitrate

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The two special types of salt are common additives in lunch meats. They're used to prevent bacteria that can cause botulism, but they're not so good themselves: When linked with amino acids, nitrite can form nitrosamines, which are carcinogenic. Sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite can also cause metabolic syndrome, a condition that can lead to diabetes.